School strikes for climate putting spotlight on years of inaction by Government – Stanley

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Climate Action Brian Stanley TD said today that the lack of policies on climate change by successive governments is clear and the debate now cannot be just on the problems we face now but on the solutions we need.

The Laois TD said:

“We need a change in polices to address one of the major issues of our time. Climate change is having a devastating effect on our environment, both nationally and globally but decisions taken now will affect future generations for better or worse.

“Much of the debate centres on the problems with our climate but we need urgently to put forward the many different actions required to deal with climate change. We need to ask what will be our energy mix to replace fossil fuels? How do we change our sources of energy for travel? And how do we deal with the chronic level of waste in our society? These are key issues that need to be addressed and need to be led by Government policy.

“Sinn Féin has put forward proposals such as the Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill to develop small scale renewable energy, a paper on Biogas to help displace fossil fuels, a Bill to have a deposit return scheme for certain waste, and our ‘Powering Ireland 2030’ paper outlines a possible 80% renewable energy mix by 2030.

“There needs to be many different polices put in place to create the change we need to protect our environment and protect future generations. These policies will be across many different areas so that the green and cleaner alternatives are in place, and so this state will no longer be the laggard when it comes to climate change.”